Help Us Back Release! the Game

It's probably no surprise that I'm a gamer, and have been for as long as I can remember -- in fact, I consider GenCon to be my annual pilgrimage. I've always wanted to make a game, and since everyone else seems to be doing that Kickstarter thing, I figured why the heck not!

Release! is 3 to 5 player card game that takes modern development methodologies and crams them into a trick taking card game that is fast paced, easy to pick up, and has a lot of room for strategy. But Release! is more than just a fun way to spend a few minutes. It's something that can bring your team -- and even different teams -- together, at a table, for a reason other than a routine meeting.

I know software isn't the most exciting game theme (nor is ancient Bavarian glass making for that matter), but the gameplay more than makes up for it. This is a fun, fast-paced game that's great with partner-play, similar to euchre or pinochle. We've been playtesting for quite some time now and very much look forward to having real cards to play with. Here's a mock-up of some of the cards:

One aspect of Release! that I'm excited about is the extensibility. The game was designed so that you can add lots of variety through Plug-ins and Expansions, which we plan to continue to publish after the Kickstarter. These will all be hosted the Release! website (coming soon); some will be available for purchase, others will be limited edition (i.e. only available at a conference), and a few will be shipped to you completely free thanks to sponsorships.

The first expansion will be called the Anti-patterns Expansion, and will be made if we hit our second stretch goal:

Ever have to deal with a solution that's worse than the problem it was meant to clean up? You will once we meet this goal.

This expansion will introduce an entirely new deck to Release!: a global effect deck that will house the best of the worst ideas around in software today from The Daily WTF. Each release, players will have to work around and plan for drastic shifts in game play.